Special CID team to probe Kalburgi killing, says Karnataka Home Minister

Special CID team to probe Kalburgi killing, says Karnataka Home Minister

Renowned writer and rationalist Dr MM Kalburgi was shot dead by unknown miscreants on August 30, 2015, at his residence in Dharwad in northwestern Karnataka.

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Bengaluru

March 12, 2016

UPDATED: March 12, 2016 08:59 IST

Renowned writer and rationalist Dr MM Kalburgi.

A day after Karnataka's Home Minister G Parameshwara returned from New Delhi after meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he announced the formation of a special team within the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the killing of renowned writer and rationalist Dr MM Kalburgi.

Dr Kalburgi was shot dead by unknown miscreants on August 30, 2015, at his residence in Dharwad in northwestern Karnataka. So far, the probe conducted by the CID has not led to any conclusive evidence. The suspects are yet to be identified. However, the CID is of the view that suspects, who killed other rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, were responsible for Dr Kalburgi's death. They also claimed that the same weapon was used to kill all the three rationalists. However, the Karnataka CID, the Maharashtra police and the CBI are hold different views on these issues.

In an effort to speed up the probe, particularly following a diktat from the Congress High Command, the government has announced the special team.

"The Special Team will once again look into the circumstances leading to the death of Dr Kalburgi. The FSL has found evidence that bullets fired at all the three rationalists had left similar marks. Our police is following the leads and we are confident of nabbing the killers," Parameshwara said.

The delay in nabbing the killers has been one of the failures of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka. For a considerable half of 2015, he was under pressure to handover the case to the CBI. The Karnataka government, for a while, considered handing over the case to the CBI, but did not go ahead.

"The party is not happy with the way sensitive issues are being handled by the government in Karnataka. We are hearing complaints of poor governance and administration. Parameshwara in particular was asked to show results in this case. Hence, the special team has been constituted," said sources in the Congress.

Parameshwara happens to be the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and recently he took over as the Home Minister. He is keen on proving himself by getting the police to crack the case, which has become a major challenge for the investigation agencies.

Last month, the CBI, which is probing the killings of Dabholkar and Pansare, informed the Bombay High Court that it would seek the assistance of a third party, probably an agency like Scotland Yard, for an independent opinion on the ballistics report in view of the diverse opinions from the investigating agencies.

In its report to the government, the Karnataka CID had said that all the three rationalists might have been killed by the same group. Ballistic experts in Bengaluru confirmed that the bullet was fired from a 7.65-mm country-made gun, for which there is a lack of consensus among the three investigating agencies.